Early in UCLA’s 89-70 win over Long Beach State on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA point guard Larry Drew II let a long pass fly from beyond the arc.

It was a touch off, caroming off Shabazz Muhammad’s hands as he went up for the alley-oop attempt. Just one of the few times Drew’s passes have been off target this season.

“It’s time for us to go out and execute,” Drew said this week, “starting with me.”

The team’s lone senior has adjusted well to running the Bruins offense.

After losing his starting job at North Carolina and transferring in February 2011, he entered Tuesday with a 4.9 assist-to-turnover ratio – seventh-best in Division I basketball.

“I think Larry’s done a very good job with his decision-making,” head coach Ben Howland said. “We’re doing more now that we have time getting some extra shooting in during the week. I want him to look for his perimeter shot more.”

Drew did a bit of that too against the 49ers, making his first three jumpers of the game. On one play, he shook a defender at the top of the arc with a pump fake, then dribbled right and sank a mid-range jumper.

Howland also wanted more out of Drew on the other end of the court. The coach has been trying to force-feed his young team man-to-man defense this year, with varying results.

One key will be for Drew – whom Howland called the team’s fastest player since current NBA guards Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook – to put in a little more energy.

“When he’s really locked in and playing as hard as he possibly can, he’s a very good on-ball defender,” Howland said. “We need more of that out of him.”

Added Muhammad: “He’s so fast. He really helps the team push the ball.”

Drew has played more minutes than anyone else on the team this year, and said he could still make some gains in his conditioning. In a close win over Texas almost two weeks ago, the guard said he felt a little winded in the first half, but was fine in the second.

Living legends

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar paid an impromptu visit Monday morning to Pauley Pavilion. On the court for an interview with CBS, the UCLA great spoke to the Bruins about both on- and off-court lessons after a shootaround. The players didn’t know the NBA’s all-time leading scorer was going to be there until they walked out and saw him.

“Just his presence humbles us,” freshman Kyle Anderson said.

A day after the Bruins heard from Abdul-Jabbar, they played in front of Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. Both Hall of Famers were in attendance for Long Beach State’s visit to Pauley Pavilion, sitting in baseline seats next to the basket.

Jack Wang covers the Chargers, the latest NFL team to relocate to Los Angeles. He previously covered the Rams, and also spent four years on the UCLA beat, a strange period in which the Bruins' football program often outpaced their basketball team. He is a proud graduate of UC Berkeley, where he spent most of his time in The Daily Californian offices in Eshleman Hall — a building that did not become earthquake-safe until after his time on campus.